Catastrophe
by MercurialLily
Summary: At the Sakitani Memorial Lodge, Manabu Maejima hears a strange noise coming from the kitchen. A series of events leaves him injured and dying. What went on in his mind during his final painful moments? T/M for blood/gore and character death


**Author: MercurialLily  
Fandom: Another  
Title: Catastrophe  
Rating: T/M (see first A/N)  
Pairing: n/a**

 **How long has it been since I posted something? A long time. So sorry.**

 **This is a little something I came up with recently. I just finished reading the novel** ** _Another_** **and...wow. It hit me hard. I tend to attach myself to more minor characters and the one in** ** _Another_** **was Manabu Maejima. I love him. So...this is my interpretation of his final moments from the novel (the anime and manga are different).**

 **Warnings for blood and character death. And yes, there are spoilers.**

I hear a sudden noise. It's coming from... Is that the kitchen? I stand still, pondering. Should I check it out? Maybe someone's in there and needs help. But then again it could just be nothing. However, my curiosity takes over, and I approach the closed kitchen doors.

Pressing my ear against the wood, I listen carefully. There's the sound of...cutlery? It's something metallic - like clattering around. My hand unconsciously moves to the doorknob and turns it. The door opens easily. Like an idiot, I look into the kitchen.

The kitchen is relatively dark, but I can see a figure on the other side of the room. Whoever it is isn't that tall - my height at the most, and I'm pretty short for a guy - and has a distinctly rotund frame. I've seen this person before. But...where?

The person turns, and my suspicion is confirmed.

Mrs. Numata, the caretaker. The one who seemed almost too cheerful at dinner.

Someone is sitting on a chair in front of her-her husband Mr. Numata. Weird silver spikes are stuck in his face and neck. He's dead. He has to be.

A strangled noise escapes my throat, and Mrs. Numata raises her head. A flash of lightning casts a sudden glow into the kitchen. In that split second, I see that her eyes are wide open and glaring at me.

She's seen me.

My brain is screaming at me to run, but my legs won't listen. Mrs. Numata picks up a nearby knife and advances.

Somehow I manage to shut the door and turn away. I have to find someone. Someone to tell that one caretaker is dead - murdered - and the other has a knife. While I'm trying to think, a sharp pain shoots up my spine.

The kitchen door has opened, and the knife Mrs. Numata had grabbed is planted in my lower back. I let out a low groan and stumble forward, the knife ripping out of my back. I can feel blood spurting out.

There's a pillar right in front of me. I fall into it, grabbing it, trying to support myself. I've barely regained my balance when I feel the knife plunge into my back again, this time more to the centre. Just like that, I lose the feeling in my legs and crumple to the ground.

I close my eyes and hold my breath. Maybe if I'm perfectly still, Mrs. Numata will think I'm dead.

Miraculously it works. I hear her walk away. There's a few more odd sounds, then something crackling. Like...fire? Soon I can faintly smell smoke.

I reach out for the pillar again. My fingers grasp at it and I try to pull myself up, but...my legs... They're not moving. I can't feel them. In fact, everything below my waist is completely numb.

Something warm and wet spreads underneath me. The coppery smell informs me that it's blood. My blood. It keeps spreading, sticking to my hands and face. It's a horrible feeling.

Am I...dying? Here? No... I can't die. Not yet. I have to live. I have to...

I hear footsteps. Has Mrs. Numata returned? No, the steps are soft and even. It's probably someone young. They're coming closer.

I reach my hand out. They're right within my grasp. Unfortunately, most of my strength is gone, and my hold is very weak.

The person yells and tries to kick me away. I groan softly and my hand drops. I can't even lift my head to look up at them.

They start talking to me. "Who are you? Are you okay?" I recognize that voice. It's Koichi Sakakibara, the transfer kid from Tokyo. I open my mouth to speak, but before I can, he's bent down beside me, touching my shoulder. I flinch slightly, the sensation feeling odd and almost uncomfortable. He's asking me if I'm all right, if I'm hurt. Then he tries to lift me up.

The smallest of cries escapes my lips. I'm in too much to pain to move. "Don't bother..." My mouth opens again, and I start speaking, but my words are weak and stiff, like an old door being forced open. "It's no use..." I'm dying here. It doesn't matter what Sakakibara does. I'm not getting out of this building alive.

I hear him ask, "Were you stabbed?" I groan softly, not able to respond. Within seconds his face is beside mine, gazing at me. His eyes widen and he calls out, "Maejima?"

He's recognized me. I manage to nod once.

Sakakibara's mouth is moving, but I can't hear him. The only sound is my heartbeat pounding in my ears. This goes on for some time.

Finally my hearing returns. "How did this happen?" he's asking. "Did someone stab you?"

I groan and struggle to speak. As my mouth slowly opens, something sprays out. Still, I force myself to focus on producing words. "P-pulled a...kitchen..." My voice is shaking so much, I wonder if Sakakibara can actually understand me. "A kitchen knife... Th-the caretaker... Knife... Care...taker..."

Sakakibara's saying something else, but once again my hearing is gone. My eyes flutter shut, and the one thing I can hear is a dull buzzing. My whole body starts to go numb. I feel cold. Cold and tired. I could fall asleep right now.

Suddenly my hearing returns, and Sakakibara's voice brings me back. "Maejima!" he's saying. "We need to get out of here!" He's struggling to lift me. In a lame attempt to be helpful, I weakly grip his arm and get him to pull me up. I forget for a moment that my legs don't work, and I begin to fall again. Sakakibara somehow catches me and holds me up. Now he's starting to take me away from the kitchen doors.

It seems like hours, but finally the front door comes into view. It's wide open.

We get outside. Someone else must be out here, because Sakakibara's yelling about my injuries, as well as the fact that there's apparently a fire inside. I hardly pay attention to this exchange. I'm growing weaker by the minute. Sakakibara struggles to hold me up.

Suddenly there's a scream.

Sakakibara flinches and almost drops me. I can tell he's focused on something beyond me. He's ignoring me. Not on purpose, but...

I feel my chest seize up. I try to signal Sakakibara, but to no avail. I open my mouth in an attempt to say something.

The evening air turns extremely hot, and I can smell smoke and something sour. Sakakibara drops me and I collapse to the muddy ground. My vision blurs and then fades completely. I feel my body twitch weakly. Then I fail to move at all.

Sakakibara once more calls to me, but...

His worried voice is the last thing I hear.

I fall into absolute silence.

 _ **A/N:**_ **The first thing I post in months and someone dies. Beautiful. What can I say, all we discuss in class is death.**

 **Some notes: when Maejima loses the feeling in his legs after being stabbed a second time, it's because his spinal cord has been severed. Thus he can't pull himself up. The scream near the end is Izumi Akazawa - I won't spoil what happens to her.**


End file.
